


And no one showed us to the land, and no one knows the wheres or whys

by dorcas_gustine



Category: Life on Mars (UK)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-14
Updated: 2010-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-06 06:44:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorcas_gustine/pseuds/dorcas_gustine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>But something stirs and/something tries/and starts to climb towards the light</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And no one showed us to the land, and no one knows the wheres or whys

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [1973flashfic](http://community.livejournal.com/1973flashfic/) challenge, _secret_.  
> Title and summary are from the Pink Floyd song, _Echoes_.

At first he's not sure if the man is here for him, but he's been spotting him or his car near his house for two weeks now, and he's caught the stranger's eyes looking at him more than once.

On a Sunday he finally makes up his mind and picks up the football he's been playing with – it's old and his mum has offered buying him a new one, but he's said no, she tries not to let it show but he knows they're not swimming in money, and besides it was a gift from his dad.

He makes his way towards the car, the man's seen him now but he makes no move, just observes him silently. When he's reached the driver side he drops the ball and keeps it in place with his foot, crossing his arms and waiting, not knowing what to expect.

Now that he's this close he can see that the man is old – even _fourty_ maybe! – but his face doesn't sparkle any memory in his mind. His eyes make him uncomfortable, though, they're blue and wide and looking at him with something in them that he can't quite explain. He suddenly wants to run away and forget all about this strange man, but he's almost twelve now, and he is no coward.

The window slowly rolls down, "You don't know me," says the strange man, and he sounds almost surprised.

"My mum says I shouldn't talk to people I don't know," he says.

"Your mother's a wise lady," replies the strange man, and he says nothing more.

"I always see you here. Are you waiting for someone?" he asks, because maybe he's been wrong to think that he's here for him.

The man seems to think about it, his lips twist in a weird curl, "You could say that."

He frowns and looks up for a moment, just in time to see Mrs. Jenkins disappear behind the curtain of her living room window.

"I think you should leave," he tells the man, "Before Mrs. Jenkins there calls the police."

The man looks up and waves at Mrs. Jenkins, saying through the clenched teeth of his false smile, "Hey there, you decrepit, old-" he looks at him in the way adults always look at him when they're about to say something he isn't supposed to hear, "Lady," he finishes and rolls his eyes.

"I'm the police, anyway," he says after a while.

He gapes at him, "Really?" he asks, "I want to be a policeman!"

The man give him another of those strange glances, he looks almost sad, then he laughs softly to himself, "Oh, I know."

He frowns, "How can you know?"

"I know a lot of things," he says, lowering his voice and slightly leaning his head out of the window, "I know the future."

He sighs, he's just started to think this man could be different, but then he turns out to be just all the other adults. They think he's only a child, "You can't know the future," he says, rather bored now.

"But I do, I'm magical," he grins, "And I'll tell you one thing, kid. One day, you're gonna be a copper."

"Will I?" he exclaims, despite himself, "Really?" and he's excited at the words, but at the same time he hates it, because now the man will think he's a small child and not mature enough, only children believe in fairy tales and magic, and nobody knows the future.

His mother calls him from the door, it's time for dinner. He waits for her to go back inside, but she stands there, looking at him and the strange man.

"I have to go," he says and tries to make it sound like he's a grown up with something very important to do.

The man nods, and starts closing the car window, only to stop halfway, "Don't tell this to anyone," he says, "I don't want people comin' to me and askin' about the future, alright?"

He nods slowly, "Like a secret."

The man nods back at him, "Smart kid. It's our secret."

His mother calls again and he waves at her, then picks up the football and looks at the man, "Bye, sir."

A hand comes to pat him on the head, he's wearing black leather gloves, "You're be gonna be a bloody good copper, Sammy-boy," he says, "Trust the Gene Genie."


End file.
